“Those
of us who have had the privilege to be a friend and comrade of Marie will know and realise the depth of sorrow and immense
sense of loss which Dessie, Donal, Aedan and Norma, her immediate family and also those of her extended family are experiencing
on her death.
From
the earliest days of the Civil Rights Association in the 1960s when she became involved in that struggle there are countless
people whose lives Marie touched and who also mourn her loss. From the beginning
Marie recognised the importance and the necessity for Civil Rights. As the struggle
for Civil Rights intensified Marie was one of the stalwarts of the organisation. Day
after day and holding down a job she was always working to advance the demands of the Civil Rights Association and helping
any person who had been imprisoned or injured in any way. When the terrorism
began she knew that it would make the task of those involved in the struggle for Civil Rights more difficult. She recognised that only disaster and deeper division would flow from the activities of the Provisionals,
the Loyalist gangs and that of the ultra Leftists of the Peoples Democracy and other Trotskyite groups.
That
it took over thirty years and over three thousand lives with many more thousands maimed and injured for the terrorists to
cease their murderous activities was for Marie another crime added to all the others the terrorists had committed. She was under no illusion as to the nature of the society and of the huge task that faced progressives
in combating the cancer that these organisations had created in the society. She
was deeply committed to building a society of equals free from bigotry and intolerance and she never gave up on her vision
of a Democratic Secular Society, a Republic.
Coming
from a background where she had relative comfort and security she took from her parents, Norman and Isabella, values and principles which moulded her character and gave her the strength and determination to
fight injustice and to keep fighting until the fight was won. In the dark days
of the seventies, as I have said, she was to the forefront in helping to combat terrorism whether it came from nationalist,
loyalist or state forces. For her there was no justification for terror and she
had seen in her hometown of Belfast
and so many other towns and villages the evil and the tragic results of terrorism. She
was an invaluable comrade to Dessie during the time of internment. As a courier
and confidante she played a key role in keeping communications open and secure during that period. Always willing to undertake any task she never spoke about the many sensitive tasks in which she had been
engaged.
I
can say that she was not happy with the outcome of what is called the “peace process”. Yes, she was very glad that killings and all that flowed from the terror was at an end, in the main, but
she resented how two blatant sectarian groups could come together, aided by governments and a pliant media, to share out the
spoils and present themselves as peacemakers and peacekeepers.
She
was a republican in the tradition of Tone and Emmet. The Unity of Catholic, Protestant
and Dissenter was not just a glib phrase for Marie. It had real meaning and significance
for without such unity success was not possible. She was a socialist in the tradition
of Connolly, whose creed was “without its people Ireland meant nothing to him”. She was a socialist in the tradition
of Liam Mellowes, of Frank Ryan and of Cathal Goulding of whom she was a friend and comrade.
She
recognised that in this society in order to achieve a Secular Socialist Republic it required continuous effort with political
activity on the ground among the working class and by convincing people through logic and consciousness that it was not only
possible to win this struggle it was essential, in order that the majority of the people would benefit from the fruits of
their labour and not just a tiny minority.
Marie’s
life was one of dedication to the cause of humanity. When she worked in the Republic
and a Social Worker she was recognised by all with whom she worked and those whom she worked for, the deprived and handicapped,
as a person who cared about her task to make life not only easier but to improve in a fundamental way their lives.
Despite
having a major illness for over thirty years she never allowed this to stop her from playing an active part in politics and
other areas of life. As all here will testify she bore this crippling illness,
Crohn’s Disease, with great courage. She maintained her spirit and indeed
was an inspiration to all who knew her whether it was working in the community or in the garden at which she was expert and
also very proud of her achievements. She did naturally resent the limitations
that her illness imposed on her and I know that she expressed her frustrations at this on many occasions. Despite this she never failed to see that each day presented opportunities to achieve gains for her class
and her party.
When
Marie and Dessie came down to live in Dublin in the early seventies they with Mary and myself lived in the same house.
We had many, many good times together, Dessie demonstrating his cooking skills and later in the pub all of us demonstrating
our drinking skills. Marie and Dominic Behan acted as witnesses at our wedding
and for us it was a single honour to have such good and wonderful friends and comrades by our side on such an occasion.
Marie
long ago rejected the malign influence of religion. She had seen in this society
and elsewhere around the world the deadly and vicious legacy of hate and bigotry that religion had imposed on humanity. She knew that people did not need priests or preachers, ministers, demagogues or gods
to interpret the world for them. She believed in peoples’ capacity to forge
their own destiny and to work together as workers to create a society which would guarantee to all freedom and justice.
Voltaire
the great French philosopher of the 18th century said it for his day and I quote “The poor are poor because
they are robbed and robbed because they are poor”.
But
then Marx came along and clarified this quote when he stated “You are poor because of the economic system under which
you live and under which you are governed, capitalism. You will always be poor
under this system which places the privileges of the few above the rights of the many.
It is this system of capitalism which much be changed forever”.
This
was in essence Marie’s view of the world.
Her
great joy for many years was in seeing her two strong sons, Donal and Aedan, grow and become men who would make their way
in the world with the values and principles that she had inherited from her parents.
In recent years the birth of her grandson Naoise gave her great cause for happiness and I know that it added another
dimension to her life which she hugely enjoyed.
The
last few months were particularly difficult for Marie. Surrounded as she was
by her loving family she hated being a burden to them or indeed to anyone. She
was not afraid to die. She faced death calmly and with great courage. She was an intelligent woman who had lived her life as she had wished despite a very serious illness. She sought to change society so that the lives of people would be better.
On
one of the last times I met and spoke with her, it was after my experience in Belfast in October 2005 when I was released on bail and Dessie and Marie had welcomed myself and Mary into their home
once again. She talked about the concept of a “living will” and of
how she had made such a will some years previous. She was determined that she
would not be a burden to her family or allow herself to become an invalid unable to take care of herself. This again was a sign of her character, her generous spirit in thinking of others whom she loved and cared
for deeply. Though we knew that she had been seriously ill over the past weeks
and months, her death when it came was still a great shock and even now it is hard to believe that this great friend and comrade
is gone from us. She leaves each of us here, I’m sure, with many fond and
good memories of a loyal, generous, caring and wonderful human being.
I
will finish with a short poem written by a Wobblie from the United
States in the 'twenties, and I think it is a poem that Marie would
appreciate”.
“Mourn not the death that in the cool earth lie –
Dust unto dust –
The calm sweet earth that mothers all who die
As all of us must:
But rather mourn the apathetic throng –
The cowed and the meek
Who see the world’s great anguish and its wrong
And dare not speak”.
Sean
Garland
President
The Workers’ Party of Ireland
Dublin 8th April 2008
